The present invention relates to a novel form of fluid-driven motor, and also to a fertilizer feeding device utilizing the novel motor.
Many types of fluid-driven motors are known, e.g., turbines and piston-cylinder arrangements, for converting the energy of a fluid into mechanical power. There are many applications, however, where such known fluid-driven motors are subject to conditions which create serious difficulties in their use or even preclude their use.
One such application is in feeding fertilizer material into a water-irrigation line. In such an application, it is highly desirable to use the energy in the pressurized water line for feeding the fertilizer, to avoid the need of a mechanically-driven or electrically-driven pump in the field. The fertilizer mixture which is to be added into the water-irrigation line, however, is usually in the form of a slurry which has a large tendency to clog the feeding pump thereby producing serious field maintenance problems. Moreover, the conventional pumps heretofore used for this purpose are usually of complicated and costly construction.
An object of the present invention is to provide a novel fluid-driven feeding device having advantages in some or all of the above respects.